Liking that aft wheelhouse unobstructed view of the work going on the stern. No stacks in the way.
Pallatized Reefer ship Silver Dania arrived in Ålesund this morning to load frozen fish and fish meal:
Newly converted from pallatized paper carrier Trans Dania, blt.1989:
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You get so every interesting looking vessels calling where you live whereas my outlook is purely pastoral.
That’s quite a big vessel for a seismic support ship and I imagine the white cover at the stern covers the emergency towing arrangement or it could be a fuelling hose. There didn’t appear to be a lot of deck space for supplies.
Re-supplying seismic ships at sea is an area that needs a lot of refinement. Using Yokohama fenders and coming alongside works in only the most benign climates. The supply vessel keeping station ahead of the seismic ship and streaming the fuel hose astern also presents problems because the wrong vessel is doing the station keeping, the seismic ship can be changing her heading under DP and the supply vessel is trying to catch up.
This method of fuelling was used was used by warships in rough weather. A buoy was streamed from the tanker that the warship maintained station on by keeping the buoy abeam of the bridge while connected to the hose on the forecastle.
Powerabout has Buddies around the table at the Marina in Singapore, but we got the tug Buddy here in Ålesund:
She may not be among the biggest and strongest, but she is out there in rough weather and good:
What a difference 50 years make-
Carnival’s first cruise ship (in 1972) Madi Gras (ex TSS Canadian Empress):
And their newest, Madi Gras (2020):
PS> The last one even have Roller Coaster on the top deck, the first in the cruise industry (but probably not the last):
What more can you ask for on a ship??
For those who like to know more about the old one:
http://ssmaritime.com/empcanada2.htm
Another historical vessel will get a new lease of life as museum exhibition:
From smp.no today (Behind paywall)
UPDATE: Here she go “flying”:
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A PSV that almost never worked has been converted to a Fish Feed Carrier at the Damen Shipyard in Amsterdam.
Before and after pictures:
It was quite and extensive conversion to get from a PSV to a modern fish feed carrier:
Another Offshore vessel that has found a new role is this one:
The Norwegian Coast Guard has a new addition to their fleet of Emergency Towing Vessels that is capable of towing a loaded VLCC in rough weather.
Here is KV Bison (ex AHTS Boa Bison):
She is also a powerful Fire fighter, if that should be needed:
She visited Ålesund earlier today, on the way to Oslo:
Where the PIC had a panoramic view of town from his chair on the bridge:
She is one of five vessels in the Emergency Towing fleet along the Norwegian coast.
But she can also carry out other Coast Guard duties, like Fishery Patrol etc.
In fact, after leaving Ålesund she participated in salvaging a pleasure craft at Larsnes, just south of here:
No need for all of her 267 tionnes BP for this assignment. Only her two FRCs were directly involved.
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Busy day in Ålesund today. 4 ships from Hurtigruten standing by, awaiting better times (Covid-wise):
From front:
The newest ship in Hurtigruten fleet, Fridtjof Nansen:
The oldest ship in Hurtigruten fleet, Lofoten (Blt. 1962):
4 fishing boat, followed by Hurtigruten Kong Harald:
On the inside of the pier, Hurtigruten Nordkapp:
PS> On the other side of town, AHTS Far Sigma:
Just returned from spending the summer in Russian arctic.
Seen here in Murmansk.
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Anybody recognize this one?:
I didn’t think so.
She is the BB Lifter and is presently working on a new bridge project across the main fairway, just North of Ålesund and is a frequent visitor here.
I worked with her when on a loadout assignment for COSCO Heavy lift in Stavanger in 2011:
She was originally the Forties Moon, built at Zigler Shipyard Inc, Jennings, L.A., USA for Jackson Marine in 1973:
It was a last gasp attempt at using GoM Mud Boat in the North Sea:
PS> This website is owned by a sometime contributor here. It has a lot of good stories from the early days of the oil industry in the North Sea. (As well as up to date stories and pictures)
UPDATE:
Video from the construction of the Lepsøy Bridge:
The Crane vessel Uglen is used to lift the steel elements into place on the pillars. BB Lifter can be seen several times in the video.
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Here is another special ship that operates mainly along the Norwegian coast, with the occasional trip to other places around the North Sea and beyond:
On a beach in Northern Norway:
Build in 1969 she has a long history and merit list:
M/V Elektron II Roll-on/roll-off carrier - Statnett Transport
statnett-transport.no › Elektron-II-Updated-22.121.pdf
http://statnett-transport.no/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Elektron-II-Updated-22.121.pdf
Good site but was hoping there would be something about the Vickers Oceanics submersible support ships.
Probably top secret.
Hardly.
Ahh those old buckets. Since you mentioned Vickers (A naval contractor) and “submersible”, I thought you were fishing for some British military secrets for your CIA friends. 
This one is still going strong after well over a hundred years, nowadays mostly pushing construction barges around the Oslo fjord. When I spoke to the operator a couple of years ago, he was talking of putting a modern house on her. Noticing the look on my face, he exclaimed: “Look, to you it may be a quaint museum piece, but to me it’s a place of work!”
Fair point.
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Yes old but not as old as tug Lars, built 1893: (??)
OK she has changed appearance a lot over the years, but there are still a bit of the original steam tug Tordenskold left:
Speaking of old ships/boats that still operates, here is the former OSV Black River, blt. 1973 that is now working as a container feeder in the Caribbean under the name Midnight Coast:
She is not alone, apparently there are quite a few old OSVs doing the same:
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There are many, many ex oilfield supply/ workboats and crew boats working all over the Caribbean. On vacation a couple years ago I watched as a good sized supply boat did what I stereotype as a “Greek ferry stern-to” maneuver to bring his stern right up to the end of a narrow pier, like within a meter. Come in bow first close towards the pier, circle around to head away from the pier to the chosen drop point, drop anchor and back down to the pier. Like a boss. Then the slid ramps to the pier, tie up, and offloaded all manner of “stuff”. Looked like one of the old “Tide” or “Bo-Truck” boats, single engine, probably an EMD. It was early '70’s old at least.
There are even older ships in active service. This one a Laker that is still carrying coal and iron ore in normal commercial trade:
This veteran ship served in the Norwegian Coastal Express from Bergen to Kirkenes v.v. for 56 years (1956-2012) and covered a distance eqv. to 150 times around the earth at Equator. She is now protected as a National Monument.
Since refurbishment she has been cruising in Svallbard during the summer seasons (Except this last summer):
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